Design
NashStore’s interface is simple, neat and intuitive. When first opened, the user must be registered in the system. The registration process does not take much time, but you will need to share your last name, first name, postal and phone number.
At the bottom of the main page, the user is greeted by four sections: “Home”, “Applications”, “Games” and “Profile”. The transition between chapters is not accompanied by any animation, but it does if you open the app pages or the chapters in the categories. At the top is a search bar that lets you find the app you need.
We have to admit that NashStore’s interface is nice and intuitive. Most importantly, it looks fresh against the background of Google Play and the App Store, whose appearance has not changed over the years.
NashStore/Google Play
However, there are still some shortcomings in NashStore’s design.
For example, when you navigate to the “Applications” and “Games” sections, you will notice that only some of the categories have “their” icons – most of them use a template. The icons look funny and interesting, but the images are too small.
It is also worth noting that the Store interface is not overloaded with unnecessary information – all applications and categories are listed, and it is impossible to “get lost” in the NashStore.
In addition, the “Recommendations” block is located on the main page, where the user is presented with interesting and useful applications, as well as the most necessary collections.
NashStore/Google Play
Catalog
The list of applications at the time of launch does not look very impressive – about a thousand programs have been announced, which will be available for download from May 16. Now the law on the preliminary installation of Russian software does not contain all the main applications included in the package – perhaps not all companies managed to register in the NashStore system.
It is interesting that there is no Sberbank in the store, but the Kazakhstan VTB branch has an application.
Among the applications are Stoloto, Banki.ru, Alfa-Bank, RN-Kart, Rutube, Wink online cinema, PSB-Business, SberMarket, Sovcombank, Gloria Jeans and others.
Things are not so good with games on the NashStore – there isn’t a single popular game on the store that “sounds good”. Only primitive games were found in the catalog. It was not possible to recognize the entire catalog – NashStore suffered a DDoS attack and has stopped working at the time of writing this note.
It is unknown how apps are moderated before appearing in the store. Recently, it has been learned that Apple and Google will remove old and outdated apps from their stores. However, a game was discovered in the NashStore catalog, the last update of which took place on Google Play in 2016. It is unknown to what extent such applications are protected from modern attack methods.
NashStore/Google Play
Results
When comparing Google Play and NashStore, a few differences immediately stand out. First of all, when you click “Install” in Google Play, the download and installation process takes place in the background, the user is not distracted and can continue to use the smartphone.
Things are different at NashStore. After downloading the file, the application installation window opens. This happens, for example, when manually installing APK files (Android installation file format) from the device’s memory and from third-party sources.
Another difference is that in-store purchases cannot be made. NashStore developers promised to roll out such a feature in the near future.
It’s still hard to call the NashStore an answer to Google Play – in essence, it’s not yet a store. This is another service for downloading APK files. There are many of them – the most popular are ApkPure and Aptoide, whose catalog is almost as good as the Google store.
NashStore/Google Play
However, it is not entirely correct to compare NashStore with Aptoide and other services, as the native service is advertised as “an alternative, independent, sanctions-resistant app store for Android.” Thus, in the event that Google Play and other analogues leave the Russian market, Android users will get a guaranteed way to install applications on their smartphones.
At this stage, NashStore is more like a beta version. To make the domestic store look interesting to consumers, support for payment for services and the purchase of paid applications through the store must be included, as well as expanded to one million applications, including large foreign ones. It is worth noting that this has been announced before, but the timing of the implementation is unknown.
Also, the developers of NashStore would not be out of place to create a system of discounts and rewards for users or to launch various promotions – this application is used in Huawei AppGallery, another analogue of Google Play.
NashStore/Google Play
DDoS attack
Some time after testing the app, socialbites.ca noticed that a DDoS attack had been carried out on the NashStore servers that caused the store to stop working. Therefore, while viewing the list of applications, the socialbites.ca correspondent noticed that the service was frozen, after which it was completely restarted and “kicked out” from the account. From then on it is not possible to login again.
“Before the launch of NashStore, we suffered the strongest DDoS attack. Now accessing the site and downloading the store may not work stably. NashStore representatives, our experts are doing everything possible to deal with this problem, ”said NashStore.
“Durov’s Code” Later online edition reportedNashStore developers disabled the store’s ability to download APK file from its official website due to a DDoS attack. Note that instead, the “download” button is redirected to “Yandex.Disk” with the installer. However, after a while, the file reached the download limit, which made it impossible to download without signing up for the service.
As of this writing, the NashStore website is down and the digital store is still unavailable to users.
Source: Gazeta
